Hitler Youth Research Paper

Born in Germany amidst one of the darkest times in recent history, the “Hitler Youth” was formed with the intent of turning the country’s young citizens into its future Nazis. The Hitler Youth were taught to be dedicated to the cause of the community and the nation above themselves, even to the point of sacrificing their lives. Hitler expresses his reliance in the young people of his nation explicitly, crying, “Give me the Youth and I have the future” (qtd. in McKissack 6). Though textbooks and documentaries have tracked to some extent the occupations the youth were engaged in, the ambitions and incentives that caused youth to willingly or un-willingly become involved are harder to define, and rely predominately on those few former Youth who

are willing to speak about their experiences. By the war’s end millions of youth who fought were dead, others would be haunted by guilt from their actions, and some would lock away the memories of their experiences indefinitely. The Hitler Youth was created with the intention of embodying the Reich’s aim of a new Germany, one with pureblooded, healthy Aryans utterly devoted to the preservation and domination of a country superior to every other. But paradoxically, many of these Youth created to personify absolute strength were destroyed by a misplaced glorification of that which is inherently weak, that is, mortal man.
Initiated in 1933 according to the Encyclopedia Britannica (“Hitler Youth”), the Hitler Youth was touted as being composed of children from all parts of society, and youth from lower-income or social class families were not discriminated against. However, reports Susan Campbell Bartoletti, those with certain inherited disabilities and impure racial heritage (that is, not entirely Aryan) were barred from admittance (25-26). Youth were therefore required to procure documents attesting to their Aryan ancestry before being accepted into membership (25). Girls and boys were segregated, and then split into specific age groups. Matthew Hughes and Chris Mann, who hold doctorates in military history and war studies, respectively, specify that boys had to “register with the Reich Youth Headquarters” by the fifteenth of March in their tenth year (52). From ages 14-18 boys belonged to the Hitlerjugend, which was even more militarily oriented than the Jungvolk (Bartoletti 29). Alfons Heck, a former member of the Hitlerjugend describes that while the majority of boys at fourteen became a part of the “the Allgemeine, the general Hitler Youth”, some joined one of the different branches that prepared boys for specific assignments once they reached an age to serve in the military (Ayer 72). These divisions included: “the Motor Hitlerjugend (which) taught motor mechanics and driving…the Marine Hitlerjugend (which) was the training ground for the navy… (and) the most prestigious… the Flieger Hitlerjugend, the junior air force” (Ayer 72).
While boys in the Hitler Youth learned primarily military drills and concepts in training for future service, girls were taught homemaking and motherhood skills.

Girls were divided similarly by age, involved in Jungmadel (JM) from ages 10-14, and Bund Deutscher Madel (BDM) from ages 14-21 (Mouton 65-66). At age seventeen they were given the opportunity to enter the Faith and Beauty group, “which promoted physical grace through instruction in dancing, hygiene, and charm” (Mouton 66). Declared Hitler in his autobiography, “Mein Kampf”, “The one absolute aim of female education must be with a view to the future mother” (qtd. in Hughes and Mann 54). In addition, specifies Mouton, girls were taught that they were entrusted with “preserving, promoting, and nurturing German culture in general”

(66).
Children were not initially required to join the Youth. However, in 1936 a national dictate was passed making entrance into the Youth mandatory (Bartoletti 34). Before this, leaders attracted new members mainly through fun outdoor recreational opportunities. Karl Schnibbe, who was twelve years old when he joined remembers: “The overnight camping trips, campfires, and parades sounded like a great deal of fun” (qtd. in Bartoletti 23). Kenny Cupers points out that ironically these perks involved the very same activities as the youth organizations the Nazis had over-run or dismantled because of their “bourgeois or un-German” views (181).
Another interesting facet of the Hitler Youth was its dedication to music. Youth sang Nazi songs at home meetings, recreational outings, and political rallies. Michelle Mouton contends that leaders employed music to manipulate youths’ emotions and inhibit their judgments into ready acceptance of Nazi ideology (68-69). In addition, she adds that group singing advanced communal devotion and identity (68-69), something clearly stressed in the Hitler Youth. The musical talents exhibited by the youth in conjunction with their military training is noted by military historian Max Hastings, who states “they had a sense of order and discipline…and knew how to sing!” (qtd. in Hughes and Mann 55).
Another attraction of the Youth was its prominent sporting events. Michelle Mouton discusses this appeal and notes one former BDM member who remarks, “The BDM was always athletics. Pure sports” (67). Many children who had been previously unable to participate in organized sporting events because of rural homes or little money were delighted at the opportunities the Hitler Youth offered (67-68). In addition, former BDM member Melita Maschmann reasons that juveniles who might otherwise have become bored in the Youth were kept interested through challenging events in which young people vied against each other to claim a victorious title, meeting youths’ frequent desire for exertion and excitement (qtd. in Peukert 151). The purpose of athletic events in the Youth extended far beyond the amusement or appeal they afforded members, however. Hitler glorified physical strength, vigor, and power. Showing little interest in growing youths’ minds intellectually, he rather insisted on their mental willpower and drive swelling into irrepressibility. “I will have no intellectual training. Knowledge is ruin to my young men… one thing they must learn--self-command” (qtd. in Hughes and Mann 58). It should not be found strange that this was the ideal he craved in the youth. Individuals with iron wills and no developed intellectual skills would sacrifice anything, without question, in complete loyalty to the Party.
The Youth operated under authoritarian guidelines.

Heck explains that each level submitted to a higher level of authority, which in turn submitted to an even higher level, “end(ing) with Adolf Hitler”, at the very top (Ayer 36). He details that the Youth “accepted it as a natural law that a leader’s orders must be obeyed without question, even if they appeared foolish or harsh (Ayer 36). This relinquishment of individual rights is illustrated in the vows children took on their initiation into the Youth, declaring: “I swear to devote all my energies and strength to the Savior of our country, Adolf Hitler. I am ready and willing to give up my life for him, so help me, God.” (qtd. in Bartoletti 24). Home groups required youth leaders and as a result many boys and girls became superiors over their fellow members. Though not far removed from the ages of the juveniles they guided, these boys and girls held a peculiar power and influence over the subordinates they led, perhaps in some part because of the emphasis Nazi leaders placed on adherence to party directives above any other authority. Reports a former Hitler Youth: “The leader of the group that I belonged to was a boy who was seventeen. He was my mentor in every respect…He exerted more influence over me than any person, parent, teacher, or anyone else of the older generation” (qtd. in Bartoletti 27). Though the Hitler Youth advertised the “youth must be led by youth” (Bartoletti 27) notion that prevailed in home meetings,

Michelle Mouton points out that ultimately it was still run by adult leaders who determined the discourse and agendas of the weekly gatherings (72).
Some former Youth recall their experiences in the organization as pleasant and enjoyable. Despite later realization of Nazi atrocities, one former BDM member confesses, “I just can’t get the sunshine out of my memories” (qtd. in Knopp). Others remember disliking going to meetings they perceived as tedious or unexciting. For many, the memory of the endeavor for a cause greater than themselves predominates. “I wanted to break from my childish, narrow life and attach it to something that was great and essential” (qtd. in Koch 95) remarks one woman. Another divulges that she felt personally needed and wanted by the Youth. In it she was “in service of something tremendous, overwhelming, something which was called Germany” (qtd. in Mouton 71). Norbert Lebert shared this fervor in his time spent as a Youth, but later regretted it. Stephan Lebert writes concerning his father’s anguish in his considerations concerning those days, revealing “Until the day he died he was imbued with, and haunted by, the realization that one cannot trust oneself, that one is capable of anything, even the most wicked acts, when external circumstances call them forth” (Lebert and Lebert 182-83).
In the Nazi party contempt was shown for traditional authority figures such as teachers, parents, or other family members. Embracing the Party’s ideals and supremacy was primary, even to the point of turning family members in who spoke against the Nazis. One girl’s father, opposed to her zeal for the Youth likened Hitler to “the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who, with his flute, led the children to destruction” (qtd. in Bartoletti 30). Parents and other adults, however, were not allowed to prevent their children from joining the organization, and could face imprisonment or other punishment if they tried. “Youth belongs to us, and we will yield them to no one” (qtd. in Hughes and Mann 60) asserts Joseph Goebbels, “Minister for Public Enlightenment and Education” (Hughes and Mann 60). When his authority was challenged, Hitler alleges the following response, “Your child belongs to us already…What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however…will know nothing but this new community” (qtd. in Lepage 6).
In keeping with this supremacy over German Youth, according to Bartoletti, schools were taken over by the Nazis, and classes altered to reflect “Nazi-approved ideas”, the subservience of the Jewish race, and the devotion that all children owed to their country and their Fuhrer (38, 39, 42). In addition, notes Bartoletti, teachers who rebelled against these agendas were fired or even sent to concentration camps (39-40). Hughes and Mann relate that schools specifically Nazi Party affiliated were also developed “so that youths would gain a full Nazi education uncorrupted by any liberal teachers” (60). Hitler declares “it is important to bring every member of the new generation under the spell of National Socialism in order that they may never be seduced by any of the old generation” (qtd. in Bartoletti 32).
The Nazis capitalized on the Hitlerjugend’s youth and energy and used them to fight in
the war. History professor Gerhard Rempel discusses extensively the outrageous schemes Nazi leaders employed in utilizing German children. He writes of some bridges that the Youth were ordered to protect. One general refused to allow the youth under his command to defend them because he believed it would mean certain death for them, as they were all quite inexperienced in battle (241). Rempel then continues by writing about Artur Axmann, a prominent Youth leader led his boys to secure the bridges before eventually deserting them for another company safe in the mountains (241-242).
Some of the youth fighting had barely reached adolescence. Rempel notes that there were boys on the front lines as young as twelve (240). Many of these children would not survive the war. One commentator reports that, “by Christmas, 1944, the average life expectancy of new recruits in the German army was only one month” (qtd. in “Hitler’s…1 of 5”) Despite their young age, Artur Grossman describes the unshakable determination he witnessed in some of the Youth when he and other German soldiers tried to surrender. “Our white flag made it clear that we were surrendering. We had orders to cross the lines. But the Hitler Youth boys…cried ‘We’re fighting on! We’ll never surrender!’…It was no good ordering them, or arguing with them. They just stood there and blocked our way” (qtd. in “Hitler’s…2 of 5”). However, Ayer writes that other youth, terrified at the prospect of imminent death on the frontlines, deserted. Though some of these deserters were executed, others were spared by more compassionate officers (153).